Unfinished Melody
by Alex Sakura
Summary: AU. (ff.net loves cutting my summaries so this will be brief) Sakura is a ghost aid and tells her life after many years and the story for her first love.
1. Walking towards my destiny

Author's notes, you can skip this part 

First of all I'd like to apologize for using Japanese words, but I simply adore them and can't let them aside. If you don't know what something means you can check this place: http://www.geocities.com/ale_4_10/dictionary.txt I also added dub names and real names for those of you who don't know the real ones I'll be using. Also this is an AU (alternate universe) fic but I kept the characters' personalities as well as I could. I left Sakura's ghost fear aside for obvious reasons.  
One last thing: I have no intention of offending any religion by writing this so please accept my apologies if anything bothers you. That's it, enjoy your reading! ****

End of author's notes 

_ Sakura... Sakuraa... _

Why are you calling me?

_Come with me... let's dream... forever... _

**_--The unfinished melody_**

Death. Death seems like something unavoidable, an unchangeable end, but is it really definite? Some say there's life after death somewhere in a better place, and some that their souls will be reborn into another creature's body. But which theory is true? I don't know but what I do know is that some souls need help to get wherever they should be and that's what my purpose is, to help them. My name is Sakura and I'm a spirit aid.

"Spirit aid?" You must wonder, dear reader, who has probably never heard of us. It's because we're hidden from the outside world and people who have encountered us label my kind with false names. We're what you would call ghost hunters, but I think that term is inappropriate simply because our function is to help, not to hunt. You'll read more about our lives written in the story. A story of a girl. Yes, a little girl who was oblivious to it all...

*****

A time of many years ago, when I was only 12 years old... Yes, even I was that age once, and I still remember what happened back then as if it'd been only yesterday...

I was asleep in bed having a strange dream about someone calling to me. It was a male voice that wanted me to dream forever. I felt so warm…so safe between my clean white sheets and holding my favorite plushy, Salt. It's a strange name, I know, but I named him during my cooking phase. It was quite brief so I didn't gain too much experience but I have never been a good cook and I doubt I ever will be. 

Soon I woke up with a start but the blinds didn't let light enter. The room was in complete darkness and deathly silent. Sitting in the dark for a moment, I crawled out of bed and stared out into the blackness. I can't really say something was forcing me to do those things, but I just knew I had to do them and the urge was too strong to disregard. It's hard to explain, but it was just a reaction to something that wasn't happening. 

I walked towards my mountain of stuffed animals and picked one up. Like Salt, it was yellow and I wasn't sure of what species it was. It had monkey ears, a round head, lion tail and wings. I had bought it because it was unique but never thought about him much. There were at least 30 of those lifeless inhabitants in my room, so it would be strange if we called it a coincidence that I singled out that one. It was more because it started talking to me. I don't remember what it told me, but I didn't feel like listening so I simply walked back to my cozy bed and hugged him tight. Soon I fell back to sleep as if nothing had happened. 

It's funny I took it so naturally that night because the next morning I was pretty surprised when it spoke to me again. I cried out, "Hoeee?! You can speak?! I bet it's onii-chan playing a joke on me!" 

"It's nice that you consider me a joke," he replied sarcastically, "but we have some important business to discuss. First of all I'm not allowed to tell you my name so you'll have to guess it. Now, I know your guessing powers are barely starting to develop so your first few guesses probably won't be my name but that doesn't matter. Tell me a name so we can go on!"

You must admit that was a weird request but I did it anyway. "Kero-chan!" my lips spoke but I didn't know where the name had come from, yet I did.

"That is the stupid nickname I was given when I was alive," he mumbled, "darn guessing power."

I still wasn't sure of what was going on so I simply apologized, "Gomen ne, little Kero-chan," and finally, he began explaining. 

"You, my dear friend... Sakura, isn't it? Are becoming a spiritist, ghost hunter, whatever you want to call it. The thing is you'll be-" his speech was halted by the voice of my brother, Touya. "Sakura!! Get your butt to breakfast!"

A thing I've forgotten to mention is that, that day just happened to be the day I would be moving to a boarding school. My father wanted to ensure I was being raised properly and neither him or my brother were at home too often. My mother had died some years before so she wasn't there to take care of me. I guess my dad felt bad seeing me have to do everything by myself and wanted me to be a normal child. How sad I wasn't destined to be one.

Turning back to the story, my brother pointed to his watch and told me the time. Apparently the bus would arrive in 5 minutes. Luckily I had already packed, so all I had to do was brush my teeth, comb my hair and get dressed. At that age and being as clumsy as I am (I'm still as clumsy as when I was 12...) I had already developed the ability of doing the 3 things at once because I was always dropping my alarm clock and breaking it, hence waking up late. 

Abandoning Kero-chan on the bed I rushed into the bathroom and finished just on time. Getting everything to go, I almost forgot about the talking toy. He couldn't move yet so it was impossible for him to follow me, he just started yelling, "come back, you'd better not leave me here!" 

Soon I was on the bus surrounded by people I didn't know and about to meet my dear friend, Mr. Destiny who's been an acquaintance of mine ever since.  

To be continued…


	2. At home

Now, you might want to know what sort of school I was going to attend. It was a special kind because students could pick their specialty, something you couldn't do until you reached college in a normal school. People here believed we had enough judgment to pick what we liked best and we were allowed to change specialties at the end of the year if we didn't like the one we were in.   
  
Of course, even if you picked your specialty you also had other subjects like math but had more classes associated with your chosen field. My best friend, Tomoyo picked beauty and not being a normal subject she got it only because she picked that specialty. I on the other hand, had really no idea what to choose and spent lots of time trying to decide. In the end I simply closed my eyes and put my finger on the sheet and after getting "Name:" the first few times my finger landed on science. I didn't hate science, excepting when it was too Math related. We could call Math my bete noire; I've always hated and been terrible in the subject.  
  
I was chatting with Tomoyo, Kero-chan lying silent on my lap when we finally reached Gosho Academy. I remember I stopped speaking as soon as I saw it. It looked so old and mysterious... It resembled a temple, later I found out it was actually a temple that had been turned into a school. I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd seen it on a postcard. It had a wood entrance that gave it an enchanting air and there was a forest near it as well. It made you remember that life was short and had a melancholy feel to it. Maybe you don't understand that feeling, maybe it's only something we feel, but it was beautiful and sad at the same time.  
  
"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo called me. I don't know how long I stared at the place but as soon as I woke up from my daze the bus stopped. "Hoee...?" I asked still confused, causing her to giggle. "We're here already, let's go out!" I grabbed my pink bag from the floor and nodded but as soon as I rose from my seat I dropped Kero-chan. Of course I didn't notice and he didn't call me because there still were people in the bus. I think that was a twist of fate because as I soon as I noticed I ran back to the bus, while a teacher showed everybody around.  
  
Luckily Kero-chan was safe but mad at me for abandoning him. He started lecturing me about how I couldn't be careless if I wanted that job of mine but I didn't yet fully understand what he was talking about. He remembered he hadn't explained yet but as soon as he wanted to start someone approached us. It was a teacher around her twenties. I found her long brown hair beautiful but that wasn't the first thing that caught my attention. It was something else I didn't understand at that time.  
"Are you lost?" she asked with a smile. I nodded. "I'll take you with Clow-sensei," she said. "Thank you Mizuki-sensei..." I mumbled. Again the same thing of knowing but not knowing touched me. Her smile just widened and she responded, "Follow me, Sakura."   
  
I wasn't too stunned to hear her say my name, but once more I didn't know why. It was that little thing that let me know everything. It wasn't scary though, my mind said it was but I wasn't truly scared because I trusted her and everyone else. I'm not sure what Kero was thinking at that moment but he didn't say a word. Probably because he didn't have anything to say. We walked through a big hall and soon arrived at a huge room. I felt no danger behind it and Mizuki-sensei simply stopped and coaxed me to enter.  
  
Conversations between ghost helpers and other people with the same powers must be really weird to normal people since we don't speak a lot. We can guess a lot of what the other one is thinking, but not everything. Also people can block some thoughts from the others. Of course newbies like me that time can't do anything like that, but more experienced people just read them like a magazine. Newbies usually can't catch all of the information unless they're very skilled. I wasn't too bad in that aspect thankfully.  
  
As I waited in the room, I could only stand there and watch as the door closed behind me. I'm not sure if she left but she didn't come in. I gave the place a quick glance. The candles' lambent light created a mystic atmosphere that made me feel at home and yet somewhat intrigued. I had a funny feeling... a tickling at the top of my stomach that was yelling "this is it! This is it!" but I didn't really know what the "it" was or why I was looking for it. On the floor there were dark green cushions placed in a circle. Everything was dark in that room, even the walls were dark yellow and the furniture almost black. There was a big wooden chest and a little table in the middle of the room. I sat down.  
  
The room wasn't empty, from a corner and among the shadows two male figures emerged, both wearing what appeared to be antique Chinese clothing. "A girl," the younger one commented, disappointment coating his voice. His eyes were brown and so was his hair. He looked about my age and quite handsome but of course I wasn't thinking about how cute he was at the time and was in some sort of trance where all I could focus in was my surrounding and listening without thinking of anything else, just facts.  
  
"You should have guessed it young one," the other man said. "You really need to train that... and she seems to be quite skillful, she's already put up a barrier." The man was wearing dark brown clothes and seemed only a bit older than Mizuki-sensei. His glasses made him look wise and by his eyes you knew you couldn't expect him to be like the rest. He seemed to be holding inside lots of knowledge and also seemed to have the ability to use it all. I was impressed.  
  
The next moment, Kero finally spoke, "Clow! You're the one who's teaching with me?!" he seemed partly mad partly surprised. The man just grinned and said, "Well, if it isn't... ah, I'd better not reveal your true name, right? That's the rule among dead and their partners." I blinked and asked, "What rules... Clow-sensei?"  
  
He smiled. I'm not sure if he was speaking or not but somehow he explained everything. Since I don't remember the literal words I'll just explain it with mine.  
Basically he told me there were some people who were born with some abilities normal humans didn't possess. He also told me there was a myth about everybody having these abilities which wasn't true and then he proceeded to explain which they were: mind reading, seeing what others can't see, communicating with the dead and sometimes even using magic.   
  
Magic was something hard to handle, and he gave me a brief explanation of what it was and how I could use it. Everything has some magic, it's the elemental energy that is given to every being or thing that exists. This existence can be handled by a few lucky ones who needed to be responsible when using it, because if they used too much there would be plot holes in reality that would destroy our world if nothing was done.  
  
And even if humanity would be stupid enough to do something like that, not everybody was picked to use this wonderful tool, only those who would have the capacity of handling it correctly. He also told me that I was one of the chosen ones and finally answered my question about the rules. Kero-chan was one of those who could use magic as they pleased. Sometimes these people couldn't go to wherever they go because they hadn't left anyone on earth to be their successors. Therefore they had to go back to earth and find someone whose powers were still developing and tutor them. The first rule was a testing rule: the person couldn't tell the student their real name so the student had to guess it. The accuracy showed the tutor how skillful their student was, and when the student guessed the teacher's true name he or she would be able to graduate. Also, he told me people were always taught in groups, each still had their own teacher but it was better if they met someone their level also.  
  
Meanwhile the other boy just looked quietly and sour expression on his face. I couldn't read what he was thinking but I could easily guess it by his face: he wasn't too pleased that I was there and I wasn't sure of the reason. "Please, meet your classmate, Li Syaoran," the boy's teacher introduced him. I immediately got up and bowed respectfully. He did the same but more reluctantly. I was still holding Kero-chan when suddenly he started moving. I looked at him and questioned, "Hora... when did Kero-chan learn how to move?"  
  
Clow-sensei burst into laughter. The little toy looked at me with an irritated face and I had never thought a plushy could be expressive before that. He shouted, "Quit it Clow, it's not my fault she guessed that name..."  
  
The man who looked so serious at the beginning had to fight to stop laughing. "I'm sorry..." he apologized still cracking up, "but I never thought she'd call you the same we used to call you back then."   
  
"Kinomoto-san, you're welcome to Clow Reed's and... Kero-chan's spirit aiding and magic class." There's where I got the "spirit aid" term from, Clow-sensei. "I'll get you some adequate clothes... oh and there's no need to go to your science class, you'll be a full time magic student. I'll take care of it. He exited the room and I smiled a little. I had a nice feeling about my future in that class, whatever it was. 


	3. First encounter

Clow-sensei brought me a package and we headed towards my new bedroom. The others were already there, they had been shown the whole school already while I was talking to Clow-sensei. I kept carrying Kero-chan because it was dangerous to let him walk around being so little. He had wings but he couldn't use them yet. I thanked Clow-sensei and entered my new dormitory. There were 4 identical beds, each with covered by a blue blanket. The walls were white and there was a door that lead to the bathroom.   
"Sakura-chan! Where have you been?!" Tomoyo asked running to me and hugging me. As she hugged me I saw 2 other girls in the room.   
"These are Sasaki Rika and Mihara Chiharu, our new room mates!" Tomoyo introduced us.  
"Lucky they put me in the same room as Tomoyo-chan!" I said happy, " it's a pleasure to meet you Rika-san, Chiharu-san! I'm Kinomoto Sakura, it's a pleasure to meet you!"  
The rest is boring, introducing each other and talking a little, until Tomoyo discovered the package I was carrying.  
"What's this?" she asked pointing at it. I looked at it. Should I tell her the whole sorry? My 6th sense wouldn't tell me what to do so I decided not to tell her the truth. You should know, however, it is really hard to hide something from the people who live with you, and my lies aren't exactly the best...  
"My dad sent it to me... it's a new dress!" I hoped it was actually a dress.   
"Let me see it!"   
Without even letting me look at it first she grabbed it and opened the package. Luckily for me (or maybe it was my 6th sense) it was a dress and it was beautiful.   
It had long sleeves made of some sheer white material. The upper part was made of a soft pink cloth and had something written in Chinese in the middle. The writing was nice, it was dark pink. For the downer part it was a light material and quite short, which let me move easily later. At the back it had a Ribbon in a darker shade of pink. In the package there were also some matching white shoes covered with glitter. I was really surprised Clow-sensei had that sort of things with him, I wondered if he knew my tastes already, because pink is my favorite color.   
"It's wonderful!" Tomoyo squeaked, "please put it on now Sakura-chan!"   
I refused to at first but she ended up convincing me with Rika's and Chiharu's help who wanted to see me in the dress too. I changed in the bathroom. When I came out they started praising me. I blushed and giggled.   
Suddenly someone knocked the door. It was the same boy as before, Li Syaoran. Like then he wasn't all too happy.   
"Hi, uhm..." he said shyly. Tomoyo had opened the door. I noticed he was nervous so I walked to him and asked him what he wanted. He told me our classes would start at 8:30 am in the same classroom we'd seen before. I nodded and thanked him.   
Once he'd left the girls started asking who he was, whether I was dating him... I've always been shy so I blushed. That blush showed the evident: I was dating him. Too bad the evident wasn't true. From that moment they kept teasing me about it...  
My first night there was quite peaceful, Kero-chan slept with me, which he didn't find too amusing because according to him I moved too much. Nothing else worth mentioning happened until the next morning, my first class.  
I'd been waken up like everybody else an hour before classes started. We all had time to change, brush our teeth and eat breakfast.   
I arrived just on time. Syaoran was already there sitting on one of the green cushions. I sat down too letting Kero-chan walk around. He was quite relieved to be able to move again.   
Clow-sensei started the class telling me about my suit. I wasn't wearing it but I had it inside my bag. He explained it was sealed against dark spirits. Of course the popular concept of dark spirits is really wrong. Dark spirits are the ones that are frustrated for some reason, they're not evil, they're just... moody. But the dangerous thing about these is that they can change reality, not like magicians of course, but they are still able to.   
Imagine yourself stuck in 6th grade forever not knowing why you are there because you actually study, wouldn't you complain? That's not the only reason why spirits may become dark though, some also do because they have something pending and can't seem to fulfill their task.   
Of course his explanation was much more detailed but I won't get into that. I'm just giving you the basic information so you can understand everything. After lots of theory we were put to sleep. I know, that's usually used with animals, don't worry, I'm still alive aren't I? Clow-sensei made us sleep so we could go out at night. You must he thinking he's a psycho teacher or something. Actually he only wanted us to rest enough because that night we'd go out to practice. Besides, he had other things to do, he wasn't at that school only to teach a few gifted children, he was an actual teacher.   
I don't remember what I dreamt but when I woke up it was already dark.  
"Are you ready kids?" that was the first thing I heard as I woke up, I also saw Kero-chan's HUGE face but that's because he was close to me checking if I was awake. I sat down scared and he just made a remark about not having picked such an ugly body. Syaoran was awake too.   
"Say Kero-chan... These classes are nice and all but, what will happen in the future, how will we earn our living if we don't study?" I'd been thinking about that the night before and I suddenly remembered it.  
"Oh yes, that question, I heard you think of it before and asked Clow for an answer. He said he'd give you special quick classes... though I don't know what he means. Oh, long ago when I was young..." Kero-chan started one of his speeches about his youth. I've heard them so often I know them all by heart. The first one was about how he had to study, work and learn magic at the same time. I still remember how carefully I listened to every detail. I wanted to know as much as possible about my new work and was eager to start the practice. Luckily I didn't have to wait for long.  
After Kero-chan was done talking and we were awake enough to walk into our rooms me and Li-kun changed. The girls wondered where I was going and I made up a stupid excuse about watching night creatures, I kept the sleeping part because it suited the lie. Luckily they bought it all. I also told them I wanted to change to my new dress because it was much more comfortable than my other clothes. Once more no problem, but don't forget lies don't last forever.  
I met Li-kun in the classroom. Kero-chan was still there, looking around for something to eat. Clow-sensei had prepared a picnic basket for us. He had to sleep to be able to wake up on time for his classes so Kero-chan would help us with the practical part while Clow-sensei taught us the theory.   
After our short meal we were ready to go. I still remember that night... it was simply beautiful. Stars and moon were there, like in any night scene people like to describe making comparisons. But what made my night really beautiful were those trees and the mystic feeling I mentioned before that attracted me. The air smelled like nature and it felt like mystery. I guess that attraction to what I don't understand came with my 6th sense. We walked along a path and even if it was dark we didn't use a flashlight. According to Kero-chan we didn't need one because we should be able to see with our souls. I guess our souls needed glasses because we both tripped several times. After walking for a while we arrived to what seemed to be a deserted town. The only thing left was the floor and 5 or 6 buildings. Grass was growing on the ruins already and there were vines holding the semi-destroyed walls with their green fingers.   
"We're here! Looks like Clow hasn't been around... he probably wants you to work. Now, Sakura, you go to that building over there," he pointed at one of the buildings, "and if you find something weird just yell. I think you can go alone, you're skillful enough to. Me and the brat will be in the building in front of it."  
Kero and Syaoran had developed a feeling of enmity against each other that seemed to be growing.   
"I'm sure excited to be going with the stuffed toy," he answered just to make Kero-chan mad. He then glared at me. He didn't like me either.  
Quietly I followed Kero-chan's instructions. I entered the old building. There was a mirror in front of me. As soon as I looked at it I felt attracted. I started staring and my eyes, the eyes in my reflection, changed to blue, an icy cold blue. Then the faint outline of someone's face started forming. I wanted to get closer but my body was rejected and I was thrown against the wall landing with a loud thud.   
Immediately Li-kun holding Kero-chan crossed the door and looked at me.  
"Sakura! Sakura, are you fine?" Kero asked concerned. I nodded.  
"I saw him... in the mirror... his hair was the same color as the moon and his eyes were cold like snow," I said startled.  
"Looks like Sakura-chan has already had a close encounter," Kero-chan commented examining the mirror.   
Li-kun helped me up while I saw the same face over and over in my head. It was pale and expressionless and those eyes were deep yet didn't let me see their deepness, they wanted to scare me away. I was truly impressed by that first encounter and very thrilled. I didn't let that thrill show until later when everything was over.   
"Let's go on investigating and come back later," Kero-chan suggested, "the brat still needs to meet one of them to have an idea of what they're like. That's about all we'll do tonight."  
I was somewhat disappointed by this, I was eager to find out more, to talk to these people who lacked body but remained on earth. Still, I knew there was a reason for Kero's instructions. Kero-chan seemed to know what I was thinking because he smiled at me with his plushy mouth. I must admit he looked quite adorable like that.   
As we went on walking through the former street I heard a voice inside my head. It wasn't like the normal knowing what the other thinks, it was a thought, a sound being pushed into my mind. The male voice was calling me. It wanted me to go with it and dream... for ever. Neither Syaoran nor Kero-chan noticed this. The force we were going to face was rare and it couldn't be felt by anyone else than the person and me. I'll let you guess the force's name, many use it as if it meant little but it's a lot more important than what it seems. 


	4. A white angel

If you'd like me to tell you next time I update say so in a review or e-mail me (ale_4_10@yahoo.com)  
~*~*~*~  
  
As we went on walking neither Li-kun nor Kero-chan noticed anything strange. Kero-chan was cursing because of their bad luck. And I wasn't really there. I was absent minded, my mind being surrounded by the strings that played beautiful music. That music reached my heart, went trough my soul and back to my mind. My body didn't notice, it wasn't part of it.   
The feeling was true, yes. But there are truths for every person in the world and that truth wasn't mine, though it made me believe so. It had charmed me with its scent and hypnotized me, threatening never to let me go.   
Suddenly Kero-chan sensed something. He and Li-kun started running towards the spot leaving me behind. I followed the voice calling me. Soon I found a building that resembled an old store. I entered. In the middle of the place there was a dress. It was long and elegant with feathers and spangles. I didn't feel my other clothes anymore as I put it on. Suddenly I was not in the same place. I was at a beautiful boutique surrounded by girls I didn't know. They all started praising me and saying I'd make a wonderful Daisy.   
"Look at who's there, it's Mr. Gatsby!" one of them said as a young man approached. His eyes were dark blue and his hair was black, it looked like a deep shade of blue rather. I looked at his sparkling eyes through his glasses as he greeted me with affection. As a reply I smiled.   
"Kinomoto! Kinomoto!" Li-kun was shaking me furiously. I suddenly felt his hands on my arms and my feet started touching the floor again.   
"Li-kun... what happened?"   
"It's the same I'm wondering," the boy said letting me go. I felt some pain because of his tight grip, he must have been shaking me for a while.  
"I just put on the dress and..."  
"It was playing with reality, whoever that was, it was one of us," Kero sentenced with a serious tone that didn't fit his aspect at all.   
"We'd better go back or some ghost might kidnap her again," Syaoran said annoyed. He hadn't seen a ghost yet and I had done it twice the same night.  
"I'd go back but then Clow would start one of his lectures about me not being responsible. So like it or not you'll have to see a ghost, brat," Kero replied annoyed, "Sakura had better stay with us, even if she's wearing special clothes the magician can get her, this only protects people against regular ones."  
"Hoee! That means they could get me?!" I panicked. Even if ghosts did attract me they also scared me. It was some sort of love-hate relationship, like Kero-chan's and Li-kun's... or maybe theirs was a hate-hate relationship?   
"Don't worry, as long as the great... Kero-chan is around nothing will happen to you!" he said trying to brag but clearly annoyed by his name.   
I sighed in relief.   
"Maybe we should go back to the place with the mirror..." I suggested. Both, Kero-chan and Li-kun agreed.   
I entered the place and looked at the mirror. I saw myself, Kero-chan and Li-kun on it. Suddenly white fog started forming in there and we were no longer visible. From the thick fog the same figure appeared, now full. It looked like an angel but it wasn't one of those funny little angels you see in Christmas or one of those celestial beings that made you feel peace. This one had bitterness in his look.   
Syaoran gasped while I simply stared.   
"Who... who are you?" I managed to say. My words echoed in the empty room as the figure started fading and I could only see Kero-chan's little dot eyes where those cold ones were before. Kero-chan was flying.  
"This case shouldn't be too hard but certainly interesting... ooh I hate to wait!" he said flying backwards.   
"What will we do now?" Li-kun wondered.  
"Go back. I'll read the instructions of Clow's "learning system" and you can read your notes or something." Kero replied as he started flying towards the path we'd followed before.   
I looked at Li-kun. He was looking at the floor, thinking. I knew what he was thinking too, he was wondering whether he'd become one of those too, what that dead person was feeling and that sort of questions. I wasn't too certain about the answers, but I didn't care about that, I started wondering about Li-kun's real personality. What was he like? We'd spend a lot of time together, maybe I'd get to know him...  
I think he guessed what I was thinking because he gave me a weird look as if he was asking "wha..?"  
When we arrived we started rereading the notes we'd taken during class. Neither of us were sleepy. Meanwhile Kero-chan struggled with a paper twice as big as he was. He kept mumbling things like "He couldn't have used a bigger paper could he?" or "you and your big words, Clow." It was quite funny to watch him.   
"All right kids!" it looked like he'd finished reading. "We're going to use something Clow calls "Clow Cards" a veeery original name," he said sarcastically, "and with them you'll learn the same as normal students. Each card has a subject and there are 54 of them."  
"54?!" Syaoran exclaimed surprised, "How in the world did he manage to gather so many?!"  
"I don't know... and I don't think you need to learn that much anyway. So you pick whatever."  
"And how do we use them?" I wondered.  
"Uh... says here you need your magic catalyst. You don't have one yet so you'll have to wait until you go to the MMC."  
"MMC?"   
"Magic Meeting Center," Kero explained, "it's the place where magicians meet, it has many functions and you need to go there to be officially recognized as magicians and get your catalysts."  
"Which are...?" Syaoran asked. He looked annoyed at the fact that Kero kept speaking as if we knew everything.  
"You'll find out tomorrow, hopefully. Now go to bed," he answered.   
Neither Syaoran nor I were sleepy and Kero knew it but he didn't know what else to do. I managed to understand that, I'm not sure if Syaoran did but he didn't complain either. We both left to our rooms. Kero came into mine a while later.   
I might have scared him a bit because I was crying. He clearly didn't know what to do, he seemed clueless. I bet he was never good among females.   
"Uh... Sakura... what's wrong?" he asked in a concerned tone. You must be wondering the same by now. I pointed at my photo album. I was showing the first homesickness symptoms. I'd been far from home for only a day but the thought of not seeing my big brother and my dad in a long time made me cry. I missed them already.   
"You'll see them again so don't cry!" Kero-chan said in an attempt to make me feel better. I tried to clean my face but tears kept returning.   
"Aw... let's eat something! That always cheers me up!" he tried once more and this time he managed to wake Tomoyo up. As soon as she opened her eyes she saw Kero flying and gasped.  
"Sakura-chan... Your stuffed animal...!"   
I bit my lip. With a nervous laugh I attempted to fix things.  
"Ehehe... do you like my new robot toy?"  
"That doesn't quite look like a robot..." she answered with a thoughtful look. I'm sure she'd understood the meaning of my expression because she didn't buy it.  
Then it was Kero-chan's turn to speak and he spoke more than what I wished he had.  
"Yo girl, I'm a dead person who took over a stuffed animal's body," he said with a cool tone.  
Tomoyo pinched herself. She obviously wasn't sure whether what she was seeing was real. Later, thought, she convinced herself that it was reality. She got up and poked Kero who floated there keeping his cool attitude. I think maybe he was trying to impress her but I can't tell.   
"Uhm... why does Sakura-chan have a dead person in a stuffed animal as a pet?" she asked.  
Kero didn't seem too happy with the "pet thing.   
"I'm not her pet, I'm her TEACHER! And I'm here to teach Sakura how to become the best ghost hunter... a lot better than that brat..."  
Tomoyo just blinked, then everything seemed to make sense to her.  
"Is that why you had to leave?"  
I nodded. Then came the whole explanation, I told her everything that had happened. She listened to my story staring at me not wanting to miss a single detail. She asked questions quite often too and sometimes I couldn't answer.   
The photo album lay on my lap totally forgotten. I now had another ally who knew about my secret, but could I trust her? Only time would tell. 


	5. Key to the future

I have not finishedwriting thisstoryand I doubtI ever will, but I'll finish publishing the chapters I have, that'suntil chapter 8. Enjoy it!  
  
I stayed awake until about 4 am that night, Tomoyo however went to sleep before. When I woke up the morning after I wasn't too sleepy. Chiharu, Rika and Tomoyo went to their first class together, they had picked the same specialty after all. I stayed in the room a bit more so they wouldn't see where I went. I wouldn't mind Tomoyo finding out where exactly this place was, she sort of knew already, but I didn't want my secret to be spread around even more by the other girls.   
  
I went to class wearing a normal outfit, I didn't find my other one necessary, and anyway I could change if I needed to. Clow-sensei was already in the classroom, drinking tea with Li-kun. They both seemed quite peaceful.  
  
"Good morning sensei, Li-kun!" I greeted them. They looked up from their cups and returned the greeting.   
  
The light that morning was nice and even if the window wasn't all too open the morning shone through with all its warmth. And even if the yellow sun irradiated life outside it was quiet. No birds, no squirrels, nothing. Maybe a little breeze made leaves sing, but there was nothing else than that brief melody.  
  
I noticed this and Clow-sensei guessed it because he made a comment about the death's sorrow scaring away animals because they're more sensitive than us. I nodded somewhat dazed because of the comment, I hadn't gotten all too used to people guessing what I thought and I wasn't too concentrated that morning.   
  
Then, all of the sudden Kero-chan came in demanding to know why I hadn't waken him up. I apologized saying he looked too cute when he was asleep and he just blushed. Seeing a stuffed animal blush... it's quite weird but adorable.   
  
Clow-sensei gave him some look from behind me, I don't know what it was like but I just know Kero replied with a not too pleased look.   
  
As if they'd been carrying a conversation (they probably were) Clow-sensei got up letting his tea aside.   
  
"Let's go," he said as if Li-kun and I knew what was going on. We looked at each other confused.  
  
"To the MMC," he explained. We both nodded and got up.  
  
Outside there was Clow-sensei's car, it was gray and it didn't look too old or too new. Just an average car. He opened the door and we all got in.   
  
I still remember how the cloth of the seats felt, I'm still not sure of which exactly it was but it was quite soft and its color was a dark shade of blue. Kero-chan sat down on my shoulder and stayed there during the whole trip.   
  
It didn't take us more than 40 minutes to get there and I would have never guessed the place was actually the MMC.   
  
It looked like a 2 story house, with a beautiful red roof, white walls and woody windows. The style was European, which wasn't all that uncommon to see around and there were some nice flowers surrounding a little path that lead to the building. Anyone who saw it would have thought a family with children lived there.   
  
Once inside, however, the place looked totally different. The light was as dim as in Clow-sensei's classroom. I didn't find out the reason until later, during a class, when I asked about it. Clow-sensei explained people with magical powers tend to prefer that sort of light; it was a natural attribute that comes with our powers. Some, however, like brightness better, that being my case but not Li-kun's. I do like bright colors better, which doesn't mean that that atmosphere doesn't attract me. But I learnt to love all the beautiful colors like pink, yellow and light green and those remain my favorites until now.   
  
The walls were all covered by wood and there were some black and white drawings of people I didn't know. There also were little black leather couches and some people sitting on them. A lady was knitting, a little boy playing with his Game Boy and a man was reading a magazine clearly annoyed by the lack of light and mumbling something about our (magicians') stupid tastes.  
  
"Normal people have to wait here if they're coming with someone who has magical powers," Clow-sensei explained.   
  
We went through a door and found ourselves in a room similar to the other, there were the same kind of pictures on the walls and the light was the same too. The only different thing was that there was only a desk in the middle and a woman was typing something at her computer. There was also a desk, a filing cabinet and a phone, stuff you'd normally find at an office. Everything was really tidy.   
  
"Clow, Kinomoto, Li and... Kero-chan," the woman said without stopping to type, " wand section door 3b."  
  
"Thank you Hinomi-san," Clow-sensei said with a smile.   
  
"You're welcome," she answered still typing, "and good luck with the newbies."  
  
"Why did she bother in talking?" Li-kun asked once we had crossed a door and were heading to the so-called wand section. He was already used to the idea of communicating through the mind.  
  
"Because it would be rude not to since you're still learning," Clow answered looking at the different doors.   
  
"Here," he pushed the green door and a beam of light came out. We all partially closed our eyes as we entered. It was the best lit room in the place... and out of it. It was hard to see with all that light the magic produced. Since the magical objects in there didn't have an owner they just did whatever they wanted. Of course they'd been sealed not to cause any harm but unfortunately there was no seal against light spells.  
  
I looked around with my eyes wide open at all those wonderful... things. I can't really call them wands because they weren't exactly wands... there were all kind of long objects, all about the same length and not too broad. Some were really bizarre. A sausage, a huge toothbrush, a pipe and a microphone are some of the oddest things I saw there. Of course they all had fancy details, which only made them look weirder.  
  
Suddenly I felt Clow-sensei telling me something through his mind. It was vague but I got the basic meaning: read. I didn't know what to read though but Li-kun seemed to know.  
  
He looked at a picture that was hanging from a wall and started reading something written on it. In case you're wondering it was the picture of an old castle. The letters were red, which made them easy to read.  
  
"Come to me my new friend, rise and land on my hand, stay with me until the end, because together we shall help."   
  
I found those rhymes a bit silly but didn't think about them for too long because a huge spoon rose from among all those strange objects and flew to Li-kun.  
  
The boy looked at it with a stern look before actually grabbing it. I started giggling and he glared at me. His icy look made me stop immediately.  
  
Suddenly the spoon started melting. Li-kun looked at it scared but neither Kero-chan nor Clow-sensei did anything to help him. A few seconds later it started getting a new shape. It was as long as before and silver. Soon a sword could be recognized. Li-kun smiled pleased. Then he looked at me, it was my turn.  
  
As soon as I looked at the picture it started changing. Now it wasn't a castle anymore, it was a romantic scene, 2 people looking at the night sky. I smiled and read the words that formed on it.   
  
"I shine like a star and my companion will be whoever can shine like me."  
  
My text made little sense. However, a strange wand rose. It had on it something that looked like a bird's head but not quite. It wasn't all too pointy but the shape reminded me of one.   
  
I grabbed it and suddenly it started surrounding itself with a ribbon. I don't know where it came from but my hand was trapped in it too. It got warm and when the ribbon disappeared the wand had changed: it now had a star on top of it. I smiled, it was beautiful. We walked out of the room.  
  
"Congratulations Sakura!!!" Kero-chan yelled as soon as we were outside. He flew around my new wand admiring it.  
  
"I didn't see your old Catalyzer in there, did you?" he asked Kero.  
  
"No, someone must have taken it."  
  
"Hoe, why should Kero-chan's wand be in there?" I asked confused.  
  
Clow-sensei smiled. "Whenever a magician dies their catalyzers come to this room. Sealing spells are put on them automatically, nobody knows them but who made the room. That's why we can't talk in there, it's dangerous, we could break any of those seals."  
  
I looked at my new wand. "So when I die it'll come back into this room by itself?" Clow-sensei nodded.  
  
"How will I keep this in my room?" Syaoran wondered, "I doubt weapons are allowed at school."  
  
It was true; our new tools would probably catch everyone's attention.   
  
"Close your eyes and let your sword answer."  
  
Syaoran blinked at this weird request but after all we'd been through nothing was weird anymore. He just closed his eyes and concentrated.  
  
"Power cut!" he exclaimed. All of the sudden his sword turned into a black ball.  
  
"Your turn, Sakura, show them you can do it!" Kero-chan encouraged me.  
  
I closed my eyes. I felt the wand's warmth; it was as if it was alive. It whispered to me, "Light turn off..."   
  
I repeated it out loud with my eyes still closed. When I opened them my wand had become a little key.  
  
"Well done, Sakura! Now whenever you want it to turn back to normal just do the same. Try it!"   
  
I nodded at Kero-chan and closed my eyes again. This time the phrase was longer.   
  
"Key that holds the power of the stars, reveal your true form to me! I, Sakura, order you under our contract. Release!"  
  
Back to normal. I smiled.  
  
Li-kun imitated me immediately; there was no need for Clow-sensei to tell him to do anything. I think he was somewhat jealous because I'd learnt it faster than him.  
  
"In possession of the powers those before me owned I order you to show yourself as you are. Grow and shine!"   
  
Clow-sensei smiled at Li-kun enthusiasm. I think so... he just smiled at him like an adult would smile at a kid.   
  
"We need to register you 2 as new magicians, don't we?" Kero said flying around, ignoring what Li-kun had just done.   
  
"That's true, I almost forgot," Clow-sensei said and started walking towards the entrance.  
  
The secretary looked at Clow and Kero. I could catch some of the information they were exchanging mentally, according to Clow-sensei, to make it quicker. I'm still not sure where exactly they found out so much about us but I think they just read it from our minds. Actually I wasn't even sure of everything they said and now I can't even remember the few things I did get.   
  
After they had our information and we were official ghost helper magicians we left.  
  
I'm sure this part of the story bored you readers, especially those who have already gone through this and know how it works. Still, this is not the end.   
  
As I told you we left, we went into the car and Clow-sensei started driving. My eyes directed towards the window, I felt like looking at the world I would probably miss being in my prison. Don't misunderstand me, I did like school, but even so it was a prison because I wouldn't get out too often and never alone. While I was contemplating the outside I found someone that immediately caught my attention. I had a strange feeling, it was warm and inside my chest. It was trying to tell me something I couldn't understand yet. As I turned back to look at the inside and think about what had happened I saw Kero-chan and Clow-sensei with a mysterious smile while Li-kun looked at the floor thoughtful.  
  
Kero-chan flew up and whispered, "congratulations" into my ear. I didn't know what was going on but I'd find out later.  
  
My, how clumsy of me! I never described that person! It was a young man, about the age of my brother or less. His hair was gray and I couldn't get to see his eyes. He was also wearing glasses. I don't remember what he was wearing but what I do remember is what he was holding. It was a curious black stuffed animal, he reminded me a bit of Kero-chan but he looked rather like a cat with butterfly wings.   
  
After pondering for a while about him and that feeling I decided to go back to watching. Then we arrived, on time for lunch. I was at home again and my friend, Mr. Destiny, was waiting for me as usual. 


End file.
